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Amorphs Universe #3
Brontomek!
The planet Arcadia was on the verge of economic collapse. Its human colony had been decimated by the strange Relay Effect; in the aftermath, still more colonists were leaving for other worlds. The Hetherington Organisation promised to change that. If the remaining colonists put themselves entirely in their hands for a five-year period, they would transform Arcadia into the most prosperous planet settled by mankind, while preserving its great natural beauty.
It was an offer the Arcadians could not possibly refuse, for the alternative, after all, was an accelerating slide into poverty and, eventually, savagery. Only when the Hetherington Organisation's first cargo ships arrived, unloading a huge stream of brontomeks - huge robot agricultural machines, heavily armoured - and an army of amorphs, aliens who were capable of moulding themselves into human form, did the colony begin to realise what it had committed itself to.
Brontomek! is a sequel to two earlier books, Syzygy and Mirror Image. Like it's predecessors it is an ingenious, adventurous tale of the type which has rapidly made Coney one of SF's foremost entertainers.
It was an offer the Arcadians could not possibly refuse, for the alternative, after all, was an accelerating slide into poverty and, eventually, savagery. Only when the Hetherington Organisation's first cargo ships arrived, unloading a huge stream of brontomeks - huge robot agricultural machines, heavily armoured - and an army of amorphs, aliens who were capable of moulding themselves into human form, did the colony begin to realise what it had committed itself to.
Brontomek! is a sequel to two earlier books, Syzygy and Mirror Image. Like it's predecessors it is an ingenious, adventurous tale of the type which has rapidly made Coney one of SF's foremost entertainers.
254 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 1976
1 person is currently reading
91 people want to read
About the author
Michael G. Coney
120 books27 followersMichael Greatrex Coney was born in Birmingham, England and educated at King Edward's School.
He started a career as a chartered accountant and went on to become a management Consultant. Then he went into the catering business, managing an inn in south Devon with his wife, Daphne for three years and a hotel in the West Indies for another three. He worked for Financial Services in the B.C. Forest Service for seventeen years before retiring .
He Passed away 4 November 2005. peacefully of Cancer (Mesothelioma). He was married with three children and lived on Vancouver Island.
He started a career as a chartered accountant and went on to become a management Consultant. Then he went into the catering business, managing an inn in south Devon with his wife, Daphne for three years and a hotel in the West Indies for another three. He worked for Financial Services in the B.C. Forest Service for seventeen years before retiring .
He Passed away 4 November 2005. peacefully of Cancer (Mesothelioma). He was married with three children and lived on Vancouver Island.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 21, 2021
Sequel to Syzygy and set in the same deceptively earth-like colony world. Equally fast moving and tightly plotted. It is a thin book but the story is complete and entirely satisfying - a marked contrast to some series running over 5 books and still no resolution. The brontomeks of the title are giant agricultural machines and while they feature in the story, that's not what it's about. The same company that brings in the brotomeks also brings in hundreds of aliens with a fascinating defence mechanism - they morph into something that an aggressor does not want to attack - like a friend, a love interest, that really great guy that everybody likes and so on. The guises these aliens adapt tells us so much about the colonist's inner thoughts, wants and needs. Fascinating concept, well written and concise in a way seldom seen in modern SF.
January 1, 2018
Brave New World on a struggling colony planet, with a very likeable main character and some cool twists along the way. Definitely recommended.
September 3, 2019
P.320-321
"They swept around the corner and into view, in line abreast, nine of them, small dome-shaped boats squatting on a cushion of foam as they raced up the estuary towards us. I was conscious of a feeling of pride. I had built those bugs. They towed water - skiers, girls dressed in flowing white robes, feathers of white spurting from their skis.
Strapped to the back of each girl was a golden kite. When they were about 200 m away from us the girls Rose from the water, the sun illuminating the fabric of their kites, the wind and wetness causing their gossamer white robes to cling to their bodies. I raised my binoculars - then dropped them quickly, not wishing to waste any time in focusing on the rapidly-approaching vision.
50 m away the skitter bugs throttled back and sank to the surface in a sudden crippled wallowing. By now everyone was watching the girls, who had dropped their tow rope. They soared over the water like angels. On either side of us the thick denseness of the trees rose up steep Hillsides to the broad ribbon of sky, framing the angel girls.
Then they snapped their hands across, peeling the cloth from their bodies, and underneath they were naked. The line wheeled, out there in the estuary, and came swooping towards us, 9 naked girls suspended from Golden kites, all breast and plump thighs and golden hair. And across the belly of each girl was painted a single letter, in bright Scarlet. The letters spelled R-I-V-E-R-S-I-D-E. The crowd yelled. Then the girls wheeled again, losing height, and I could hear the wind in their harness as they swept close overhead then out over the estuary again, upstream, lighting gently on the water like a flight of golden swans. They waded ashore a couple of hundred metres away, on the opposite Bank where the estuary narrows in the road bridge crosses the water."
A little example of this author's work. The context is a Regatta, celebrating the Hetherington corporation's buying of the planet Arcadia, of which Riverside is a town. This will help the colonists, as their own resources are sadly depleted, and many colonists have left, following the deaths of many of them by a native Species. But capitalism isn't always the best solution, as many readers know, as CEOs and stockholders are not known for their ethics.
I liked this better than"Mirror Image" and"Charisma," I'll give it that.
"They swept around the corner and into view, in line abreast, nine of them, small dome-shaped boats squatting on a cushion of foam as they raced up the estuary towards us. I was conscious of a feeling of pride. I had built those bugs. They towed water - skiers, girls dressed in flowing white robes, feathers of white spurting from their skis.
Strapped to the back of each girl was a golden kite. When they were about 200 m away from us the girls Rose from the water, the sun illuminating the fabric of their kites, the wind and wetness causing their gossamer white robes to cling to their bodies. I raised my binoculars - then dropped them quickly, not wishing to waste any time in focusing on the rapidly-approaching vision.
50 m away the skitter bugs throttled back and sank to the surface in a sudden crippled wallowing. By now everyone was watching the girls, who had dropped their tow rope. They soared over the water like angels. On either side of us the thick denseness of the trees rose up steep Hillsides to the broad ribbon of sky, framing the angel girls.
Then they snapped their hands across, peeling the cloth from their bodies, and underneath they were naked. The line wheeled, out there in the estuary, and came swooping towards us, 9 naked girls suspended from Golden kites, all breast and plump thighs and golden hair. And across the belly of each girl was painted a single letter, in bright Scarlet. The letters spelled R-I-V-E-R-S-I-D-E. The crowd yelled. Then the girls wheeled again, losing height, and I could hear the wind in their harness as they swept close overhead then out over the estuary again, upstream, lighting gently on the water like a flight of golden swans. They waded ashore a couple of hundred metres away, on the opposite Bank where the estuary narrows in the road bridge crosses the water."
A little example of this author's work. The context is a Regatta, celebrating the Hetherington corporation's buying of the planet Arcadia, of which Riverside is a town. This will help the colonists, as their own resources are sadly depleted, and many colonists have left, following the deaths of many of them by a native Species. But capitalism isn't always the best solution, as many readers know, as CEOs and stockholders are not known for their ethics.
I liked this better than"Mirror Image" and"Charisma," I'll give it that.
March 18, 2018
Sequel to Syzygy and ultimately pretty depressing
June 11, 2025
Highly reminiscent of Eric Brown. A wonderful book.
Did not finish
December 16, 2023The intent of the book is clearly to rail against unrestrained capitalism (how would the author feel about things 45 years later?) but the slow-moving plot gets in the way and constant overt sexism from nearly every card-board cutout character not only regularly derails the story, it also tries to date the book to a couple of decades earlier. Maybe the author is trying to build an unlikeable character or maybe he’s not-so-subtly suggesting that he doesn’t approve of women being considered people. Either way, the first-person POV character can’t see a woman without falling in lust and commenting on her physical attractiveness and how it affects him.
Ultimately, that’s what made me decide I was finished with the book a third of the way through. This is one of those books where I wonder not just how it won an award, but how it got published in the first place. I'm certain there must be better examples of the author's work out there.
Ultimately, that’s what made me decide I was finished with the book a third of the way through. This is one of those books where I wonder not just how it won an award, but how it got published in the first place. I'm certain there must be better examples of the author's work out there.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews